John Jay Offers a New Africana Studies Minor: Community Justice

This coming fall semester The Department of Africana Studies will be offering a new minor: Community Justice. The courses incorporated into the minor expose students to new ways of thinking about justice and community-based problems, such as economic and racial inequality, as well as the prison system. The Community Justice minor requires students to complete 18 credits, nine of which include three required classes, and the other nine stemming from a wide selection of elective courses.

What You Can LearnThis new minor is focused on teaching students how to use what they learn as a way to better their community. The hope is that by looking at legal, economic, and social policies, students can address the root causes of community-based issues, finding new ways to bring about justice. In taking classes such as, Introduction to Community Justice in Human Systems, Community-Based Approaches to Justice, Culture and Crime, and Latina/os and the City, students can learn several theories and strategies enabling them to solve community problems more efficiently. And these problem-solving skills can then be applied in careers that could transform the criminal justice system.

What You Can DoAfter completing this minor, students are going to be better prepared to enter justice-related fields, such as: criminology, criminal justice, sociology, law, forensics, and human services. They would also have a foundation to take the next steps to becoming attorneys, social workers, police officers, and forensic psychologists. These students would have the knowledge to bring about a change within their community—one that is peaceful, fair and most importantly brings community justice to all.